USTA & ITF RULES INFO – update 1/3/12

The ITF Seniors Committee approved the Committee’s request to allow closed national championships to become ITF Grade 2 tournaments (if they would otherwise meet the Grade 2 criteria in terms of numbers). The ITF Seniors Committee then upgraded all of the USTA’s Category I National Championships in men’s and women’s 35-80 and men’s 85 divisions to Grade 2 ITF tournaments. They were extremely complimentary about the rationale of the proposal, saying it reflected a good understanding of the principles of the committee. Their only concern was that by upgrading the USTA national championships to Grade 2 tournaments, the USTA would be less likely to host open ITF Seniors tournaments which could be Grade 2 events.

South AfricaandAustralia, along with South America andEuropeare adding many more ITF tournaments every year. Only North and Central America andAsialag. As a consequence, very few Americans have high ITF rankings. This may impact the teams in the future. The ITF has created an ITF ranking for team competition and may adjust this in the future to reflect the rankings of the players on the teams. This ranking model is not complete and has not yet been implemented.

The ITF strongly urged the USTA to work withCanadato form a Continental closed championship. The first one will be held in Europe inBulgariain the summer. It is a 210 point tournament. If the USTA does try and get one together it would have to follow ITF rules. The tournament could be broken down into seniors and super seniors or into men’s and women’s division. If held in theUSAthe committee would need to determine what ranking points if any it would have for USTA ranking purposes.

The ITF is considering dividing the teams/individual world championships into three categories from the current two

Seeding:

For individual ITF tournaments other than closed nationals, continues to be based on ranking, but there is a big change. A player’s seeding now is based 100% upon the ranking he/she obtains in the oldest age division for which he/she is eligible. If he/she plays down, the points are discounted 30% for each age division he/she plays down. For example, if a player has 700 points in the 60s, but plays 55s, he/she would have only 490 points for seeding. If he/she then played into the 50s, he/she would then have 343 points. This is true even if the player had earned e.g. 600 points in the 55s playing in 55s tournaments.

The number of seeds changed and is now based on the number of entrants instead of the draw size; the numbers of seeds allowed are now similar to the USTA’s power of 2 seeding. The new seeding numbers are:

4-11 players: 2 seeds

12-23 players: 4 seeds

24-47 players: 8 seeds

48-95 players: 16 seeds

96 + players: 32 seeds

Doubles and mixed doubles rankings will be introduced in 2012.

There will prize money at the World Individual Championships.

Seeding for mixed and doubles will be based on the higher of each player’s singles or doubles world ranking and each player’s ranking will be combined to come up with a point total for seeding. If a team’s points are tied with another team’s points, and one of the four players is unranked, the team with two ranked players will have the higher seed.

The world championship dates for 2013 and sites were announced:

Seniors: Ali Bey Club,Turkey, 18-31, March 2013

Super Seniors:AustriaandCzech Republic, Sept 9-22, 2013;

Details and exact dates are to be posted on November 28th on the ITF Seniors website.

Fines will be assessed for failure to show up for a captains’ meeting without notifying the ITF or having a teammate replace the captain at the meeting equal to one/half of the entry fee ($162.50 this year).

Code of Conduct instituted for ITF tournaments governing late withdrawals and on court conduct with various points assessed; go over the limit and the player is immediately banned from playing tournaments for four weeks. The player will not be able to enter a tournament because the IPIN will be flagged.

A discussion of using a match tiebreak for all 80 and 85 divisions in ITF tournaments was discussed. A small survey was made inTurkeyregarding this issue. The decision for now is to continue to allow but not require match TB in these divisions. A second survey will be taken during the individual world championships inCroatianext fall.